Diary Entry #1



Dear Diary,

My name is Louis-Francois Cartier and this is my 13th year of my life in Neuilly Sur Seine, France. I am an apprentice at a watch shop and my master is relatively nice than others. I don’t earn much money however its enough to feed my mother and me. There is not much special things about my family, however there is one fact that I don’t have a father. My mother told me about my father recently; that he was killed in the middle of the sea during American Revolution when I was a baby. She also told me he used to be a sailor and he would sail the mighty sea of Pacific. My mother showed me a photo of my father and it was as if I was looking at the mirror.

Any way, I went to the bakery today for our breakfast early in the morning. I planned to get all the breakfast ready before my mother woke up. I was infront of the Rémi Gusteau’s Bakery and I was ready to pick those fresh breads up. When I was about to pick those breads, I saw the price of the breads magnificently rose. No wonder there were no people in the bakery. Only thing that was in my hand was an orange juice when I came out. We started our day with a cup of orange juice.
I walked down to my shop and my master seemed angry. Mr. Brenard, my master, was looking at a news paper and I saw big letters saying “TAX INFLATION”. I thought it was better not to disturb him reading newspaper. After few hours later, Mr. Brenard asked me to go to the blacksmith get some materials for him. I knew a really good guy who always had all the stuff that we needed. He is one of my friend, Dimitri Chevalier, I would always stop by his shop and have a little conversation with him. After buying materials for my master, I was done with my working hour.

I got home and I gave a big hug to my mother. I was tired from the work because I had to make a watch by my own without any help, on the one hand I was proud of myself. My mother told me there was a huge massacre near the Place Louis XIV, with an angry tone. She probably saw the news of tax inflation. It was a tough day without our breakfast and the anger of people around me.

It was Sunday, which was a sabbath day for the Catholics. I didn’t go to work because my master was also a catholic, instead went to one of the biggest church in Paris. It was near Versailles Palace and I didn’t take mom; she had other things to do. This was not very a good idea for me because all I saw near the Versailles Palace were gunfires and screaming. I also saw a guy with an odd outlook; he didn’t look like a guy around this country. Anyway I tried to leave the town as quickly as possible however, a bullet was stuck on my leg in a split second. Blood gushing out of my skin and a significant pain followed. The guy looked at me bleeding and he said he would help me to get near my town. I got on his horse and I started to suffer through my agony. When we were coming close to my town he started look for a hospital. Instead of hospital I told him to go to the Church where me and my mom go often. I knocked on the door and I saw Sister Moreau. She cured my damage in few minutes. I was very thankful to her and the guy. I asked the guy’s name and he said “Thomas Jefferson”. I can’t forget about his name because he was the one who saved my life.

Diary Entry 2


Dear Diary,
Finally! We heard the news that the Old Regime has ended. There were no social classes divided anymore. Everyone was equal now and the Declaration of the Rights of Man was stated by the National Assembly. They protected our rights, liberty, and everything that men needed, however I felt pity toward women. This declaration didn’t apply to women. I heard that a woman lost her head trying to make a Declaration of the Rights of Woman. The news spread to all the people around France. “ Every men” were happy.

However, the high taxes were not over. Me and my mom were starving because of the high price of food. We were living the days with only water. Now I realized how France was unstable and people tried to make revolution.I began to get angry. I wanted revolution against this government and everything that is causing this starvation. I went to the watch shop to earn some money, however my master wasn’t there. I saw a little note on the desk “ I am going to Versailles for the War. We are going to attack King Louis XVI. There might be some accidents and I might die in this war. If something happens me I want you to take over my shop. Please. Thank you and have a nice day.” I read the newspaper that was just lying on the desk. The head line was “War with Austria/Absolute Monarchy Coming Back?”. Right after reading the headline worries overrode me. did what I normally would do in the shop, waited for customers. After work, I walked home with a loaf of bread.

Few months later Mr. Gusteau came to our shop and asked me if I could go to the Louis XVI’s execution. I was glad to go with him because I thought this could end the France Revolution and everyone could be happy now. We rode a horse to the Versailles. It was very crowed. I guess people wanted to see Louis getting executed by a machined called the guillotine. I saw Louis XVI on the stand infront of the guillotine dress up with with clothes. Nothing fancy, just like a normal person would wear. He bent down and the blade of the guillotine sliced his head up in a second. I could hear the joy of people when his head was cut off. End of the revolution...no..it wasn’t the end of revolution.

Diary Entry 3


Dear Diary,

After Louis XVI’s execution a great fear of aftermath followed. Reign of Terror dominated the who France. I would see a list of people who got executed on the guillotine on the news paper. One of the name was Algernon Brenard, my master. My heart fell. I had no idea why he was executed. Maybe he tried to kill Maire Antoinette who was in the prison after the war. Now the watch shop was property of me. I loved the fact that I achieved my grandfather’s dream however I hated the fact the person had to die to achieve the goal. I named the shop “Brenard Cartier’s Watch Shop” which was definitely dedicated to my master. Since I became the owner of the shop I was able to join the Jacobins.

In Jacobins there lots of people who were older than me. I saw Mr. Gusteau in the Jacobins. I never knew that he was part of this. He greeted me in a very welcoming tone. He loved me like I was his son. He told me that we were going to attack the Pierre Lafite’s house. Pierre Lafite was the landlord of the Neuilly sur Seine. We were utterly upset about the high taxes so we went to his house armed and attacked his house. I lead the Jacobins even though I just got in here. I was very buff and strong for my age. I opened the door and I found the one who was causing all the high taxes. We destroyed their house hoping they learned some lessons.

After the huge event, I walked home with fearfulness toward Robespierre. I was afraid that the landlord would tell on the Committee of Public Safety and they would guillotine all of us. However after that night, Maximilien Robespierre was executed by the National Convention.

In 1796, we went to the War where Napoleon Bonaparte was in charge. I heard that he was the savior of the French republic. I gladly joined an army with Mr. Gusteau and one of his great friend. We were fighting against the forces of Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia. People were dying in this war more than people did in the guillotine. However, there were series of remarkable victories and finally all three nations signed peace agreements with France.

Napoleon was elected as the First Consul and he became the new ruler of the France. French Revolution reached the end. At first, I didn’t really care about this revolution. However when it got serious and more serious it caught my mind. When my family started to starve and people began to die I was part of this revolution. Revolution is not just a war or a crucial thing to do, it is the one that makes changes. When people start thinking differently than others thats the time when Revolution becomes serious.